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Cross Country: St. Charles East boys take home first state title from Peoria
Rosary's Lianna Surtz wins Class 1A girls title, Batavia's Katrina Schlenker third in 3A
PEORIA – St. Charles East returned to the site of its most important regular-season boys cross country triumph on Saturday.
But the Saints had an even greater victory in the last of six state-championships races at Detweiller Park.
The Peoria Notre Dame Richard Spring Invitational win elevated the program to No. 1 in the Class 3A state rankings earlier this season.
DuKane Conference rival Wheaton Warrenville South was intent on retaining its state title from last year, however.
St. Charles East, though, had the firepower and depth of its lineup to deliver the first state championship in program history.
With four runners earning all-state status, St. Charles East denied the Tigers 64-68.
Thirty-three one-hundredths of a second separated Bob Liking and Micah Wilson as the twin St. Charles East top guns finished sixth and seventh in respective times of 14 minutes, 31.52 seconds and 14:31.85.
“I am still in disbelief,” Liking said moments after the awards ceremony ended. “I just kInd of kept going. At the end, I was really fading. Micah came up and just told me to keep going. I really can’t thank him enough for that.”
Aidan King and Luke Schildmeyer also played pivotal roles as the former came home in slot No. 14 in 14:40.68. Schildmeyer rounded out the Saints' All-Staters, taking 25th in 14:47.29.
Zach Loomis’ 27th-place finish among team-qualifying members enabled the Saints to deny the Tigers’ repeat bid by the narrowest of margins.
Jonathan Olenek and Connor Murphy were the sixth and seventh members of the Saints’ championship unit.
“They’re a great team,” WW South coach Chris Kuntz said of the Saints.
“They had a goal,” St. Charles East coach Chris Bosworth said. “The goal was to bring something home. They believe in running in something bigger than themselves.”
In the Class 2A boys state final, Burlington Central senior Anthony Farmer unleashed a vicious kick in his hopes of becoming the best in the land.
But the Rockets’ standout had to settle for third place for a second consecutive year.
“Sad, but nothing I can be mad about with how I raced,” said Farmer, who crossed the finish line in 14:50.8. “You have to be committed and settled to go with (your decisions).”
Lianna Surtz did not have to play the role of runner-up in her second state appearance.
One year after a second-place finish in Class 2A, the Rosary sophomore toured the Detweiller Park layout in 16:41.01 to capture the Class 1A state championship.
“I knew I would have great competition in either class,” said Surtz, a Batavia resident. “I was just excited. I just tried to run my own race.”
In the Class 3A girls race, Batavia had repeat all-state runs by Katrina Schlenker and Mia Gianfrancesco.
But the Bulldogs were 24 points behind Hinsdale Central for the third and final state trophy.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Batavia coach Chad Hillman said.
Schlenker, runner-up last fall, took third her sophomore year after placing behind four-time state champion Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West and three-time Wheaton Warrenville South star Sam Poglitsch.
Gianfrancesco became the first three-time state medalist in program history with her 25th-place effort.
“To sustain that level of success is a hard thing to do,” Hillman said of Gianfrancesco.
St. Charles North sophomore Rachel Price was also all-state for a second straight year by finishing No. 12.